You are traveling to Kauai and you want to eat at some good but cheap restaurants? Well you are doing exactly what I did when I researched restaurants and food trucks (food trucks are abundant and good) in Kauai by looking at various bloggers, vloggers and periodicals (some of them we found while on the island through Google maps). Come along with me as I count down the top 10 restaurants and food trucks we visited on Kauai.
The Video Review
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#10, Hanalei Dolphin in Hanalei. Now maybe it’s not fair that I’m including them on this list, since we didn’t actually eat in the restaurant. We were planning to eat there, but…well…let me describe the scene for you. I was walking up to the hostess’ podium, and as I got near, she quickly turned away and went to light the tiki’s around the outside which included walking behind me and finally back to the podium. I asked her how long the wait was going to be and she very curtly said that there were 25 tables ahead of us. From the rudeness she showed us, I guess she didn’t want our business and we left
(but didn’t you go to their fish market to get poke),
yes we did, but their rudeness left a bitter taste in my mouth which soured the poke. So if you were planning on eating at Hanalei Dolphin, save your money, save your time and find a better place like
#9 – Big Save Market. You might wonder why a supermarket is on this list, well, we were planning an all day trip to Waimea Canyon which doesn’t have restaurants nearby so we ended up buying sandwiches at Big Save Market to take along with us. My first plan was to visit the farmers market in Poipu that I heard about to find some sandwiches, but I was mistaken that there might be something at the farmers market to take with us for lunch the next day and it was overly crowded for what they had, so I would suggest skipping the farmer’s market.
#8 is Da Crack in Koloa it’s a small hole in the wall restaurant that has many options for Mexican food.
If you are missing Mexican food, this place is decent, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here since there are better options like
#7 Costco in Lihue.
What? Costco??? As in the food court???
No not the food court, but Costco was our breakfast restaurant. We bought some muffins, yogurt and other breakfast foods so that we could have a simple breakfast and get out on the road early in the day to go hiking, sightseeing, snorkeling or any other activity you might think of. It also keeps the cost of the trip down so you can enjoy a place like
After a long day of hiking, stopping by the Coconut Corner on the way back to our hotel was a nice treat. With their wide selection of local fruits that you can buy fresh and cut up for you or in a smoothie/milkshake option and with the addition of the shaved ice option it really satisfied our tired body needs as well as giving us a nice place to rest. They also have other dished in a Thai style, but we didn’t try their dishes
#5 Paniolo Santa Maria Style BBQ in Ka’apa
Tritip barbeque in Hawaii was definitely a treat. Sure it isn’t Hawaiian food, but there is no stopping this restaurant from serving some delicious Tritip and other barbequed meats to satisfy that beef barbeque craving. You can have them in a place with sides or in a sandwich. Both options are quite tasty and will not leave you hungry.
#4 Leong Meat House in Ka’apa.
I found that Poke in Hawaii is much better than Poke on the mainland. Somehow the Tuna in Hawaii tastes better than the Tuna one gets in California. Except for the Tuna in Hanalei at Hanalei Dolphin which tasted very bitter because of the rudeness of the staff.
So if you are in the mood for a nice poke bowl, they have a fine selection of meats (fish) and a good combination of sauces and extras to go with it. The place isn’t open past lunch, but if you are in the area and have a craving for poke, you cannot go wrong by ordering from here.
As you would expect from the name, they serve very flavorful and tasty ice cream. We enjoyed the ice cream very much as well as the Hawaiian grilled cheese that they served. No that is not a mistake, they have 3 versions of grilled cheese to fill you up if you want something more than just ice cream. But strange as it may be, I cannot think of a much better combination for my daughter to enjoy.
But there are two things you need to be prepared for when eating at Pink’s. Number 1, it is quite the popular place. It may be hard to get parking and there is likely to be a line when ordering and Number 2 it may be difficult to get to this place as you may have to wait for the one two lane road that connects Hanalei to the rest of the island to be open. It’s not open all the time so it’s better if you plan ahead and see when the road will be open.
With a crispy crust and a variety of tasty topping to add, this food truck serving pizza is a nice treat to have in Kauai. It is also one of the few places that is open late so it is also a nice dinner option
Now before I reveal our #1 eating destination, let me give a quick mention to the garden island coffee food truck in Kaa’pa that my daughter wanted to go to since she loves her starbucks like coffee concoctions. She enjoyed the Kauai twist in the standard coffee fare that you might find in a place like Starbucks.
And while at garden island coffee, My wife noticed the menus of the at the time closed food trucks which we ended up going back to to find
#1 The best tasting place we ate at was at a food truck called Da Melting Pot in Kaa’pa and it was worth the wait. Their burgers were tasty and messy with all the sauce and juice from the burger.
Their garlic shrimp was also quite the delight. Though you may have heard that the shrimp trucks in the north shore of Oahu are all the rage, they couldn’t hold a candle to the shrimp we got in Kauai at Da Melting Pot. So if you are in the area around lunch time, definitely stop by Da Melting Pot for the best shrimp dishes you will have in Hawaii
Restaurants Visited:
- Coconut Corner: HI-50, Waimea, HI 96796
- Kauai Culinary Market: Wednesdays 4:00 pm: 2829 Ala Kalanikaumaka, Poipu, HI 96756
- Da Crack: 2827 Poipu Rd, Koloa, HI 96756
- Big Save Market: 5516 Koloa Rd Koloa, HI 96756
- Costco: 4300 Nuhou St, Lihue, HI 96766
- Leong’s Meat House: 4520 Lehua St, Kapaʻa, HI 96746
- Scorpacciata Neapolitan Pizza: 4-1306 Kuhio Hwy, Kapaʻa, HI 96746
- Paniolo Santa Maria Style BBQ: 4-1345 Kuhio Hwy, Kapaʻa, HI 96746
- Garden Island Coffee: 4-1604 Kuhio Hwy, Kapaʻa, HI 96746
- Da Melting Pot: 4-1602 Kuhio Hwy, Kapaʻa, HI 96746
- Pink’s Creamery: 4489 Aku Rd, Hanalei, HI 96714
- The Dolphin Restaurant: 5-5016 Kuhio Hwy, Hanalei, HI 96714
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